I was hoping for a simple graphic approach for a game, but as ever its a little trickier than that. I am wanting to make a variety of terrain from a purely top-down view, as apposed to some games that have a slight 'tilt' to the perspective to give a 3d perspective ... the reason for this is that the game would include making various vehicles, and being able to have them at any facing without needing a new sprite would be a great plus.

What I have in mind is something much like the Genesis version of Dune 2 and the likes of Battle Isles 2 & 3

(Although one is square-based and one hexed-based) I felt these provide attractive distinct map views and would certainly like to emulate that sort of style. Does anyone have any tips to this approach, how tricky is it to put together an effective looking tileset? Are there any free resources in this vain?

Thanks

Take a look at lost-garden, lot of free stuff and some guides available: http://www.lostgarden.com/search/label/free%20game%20graphics I'm sure, that you will find something useful there :D

What exactly is your problem with creating the graphics?

Seems like a rather modest goal that should work even for a beginner... in this sense, I don't think you should face too many problems.

Do you have troubles getting the tiles to line up? Do you have problems with sorting? Performance related problems?

Give a little bit more details about the problems you are having, and there should be people on this forum able to help you.

Well no. It was more of an issue of I wasn't sure how to approach the art of terrain (combined with my chosen prospective). So nothing technical, I just felt there might be some tricks to have in mind before attempting it.

Edit: Well this is a very simple attempt at grass, just using a quick GIMP filter.